As the University slows to a pause for the Easter weekend, I thought it might be nice to bring back to our readers’ attention the Klassiki database’s Ukrainian films, a “collection of classic and contemporary titles from Ukraine: from the avant-garde landmarks of Oleksandr Dovzhenko and Dziga Vertov, to the national revival of sixties “poetic cinema” and 21st-century visions of a brutal present – and a hopeful future.” (from their site)

When I previously wrote about Klassiki’s Ukrainian films, they had 6 entries there.  At the time of writing, their Spotlight on Ukraine collection has expanded to the following 15 titles.

The most recent of these is the 2021 film Stop-Zemlia by Kateryna Hornostai (often anglicised as Gornostai), her prize-winning debut feature film set in the world of Ukrainian teenagers.  It was Klassiki’s Pick of the Week in February.  As is standard, the film appears on the Klassiki database with extras.  There are three that come with Stop-Zemlia, including an interview with the director.  Extras appear further down the relevant film’s page.

Klassiki is a database worth looking at for anyone with interest in Ukraine or in cinema from across the countries previously behind the Iron Curtain.  University of Cambridge staff and students can set up an account via this link.  Access to Klassiki does not appear in the Cambridge A-Z of eresources, because we have a capped number of accounts.  Please contact ejournals@lib.cam.ac.uk if you have any problems setting an account up (note that they, like all library services, will be closed from later today until Easter Tuesday).  NB if you had an account maybe last academic year but find you aren’t getting proper access this time, try setting up your account again.

Mel Bach